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Michael E. Horowitz

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Michael Horowitz
Inspector General of the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 30, 2025
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byGlenn Fine
Succeeded byWilliam M. Blier (Acting)
Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
April 29, 2020
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Donald Trump
Preceded byGlenn Fine
Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice
In office
April 16, 2012 – June 30, 2025
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Donald Trump
Preceded byCynthia Schnedar (Acting)
Succeeded byWilliam Blier (Acting)
Personal details
BornMichael Evan Horowitz
(1962-09-19) September 19, 1962 (age 63)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationBrandeis University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Michael Evan Horowitz[1] (born September 19, 1962)[2] is an American attorney and government official. He is the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He previously served as Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice from 2012 to 2025.

Early life and education

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Horowitz is the son of Jewish parents, Anne J. and Fred Horowitz.[3] His father owned the women's clothing manufacturer, Paul Alfred Inc.; and his mother owned an antique store in Nyack, New York.[3] He earned a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Brandeis University majoring in economics and minoring in Legal Studies. He then earned a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School.[3]

Career

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Following law school he served as a law clerk for Judge John G. Davies of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He then worked as an associate at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. From 1991 to 1999 he was an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. From 1999 to 2002 he worked at the Department of Justice headquarters in Washington D.C., first as a deputy assistant attorney general, then as chief of staff. In 2002 he returned to private practice as a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he focused on white collar defense, internal investigations, and regulatory compliance. During this time he also served as a commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission—a position for which he was confirmed by the Senate in 2003.[4]

Inspector General for the Department of Justice

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Horowitz was sworn in as the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice on April 16, 2012.[5] Since 2015, he has also been the chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an organization consisting of all 73 federal Inspectors General.[4] The New York Times reported he was not among at least twelve inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump four days into his second term.[6]

Review of ATF's Operation Fast and Furious

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Main article: ATF gunwalking scandal

In September 2012, Horowitz released a 471-page report on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Operation Fast and Furious, in which ATF agents allowed illegal gun purchases to proceed with the intention of tracking the weapons to Mexican drug cartels.[7] The report found "a pattern of serious failures" and recommended 14 federal officials for disciplinary action.[7] Horowitz found no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder knew about the operation before early 2011.[7] Following the report's release, Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein resigned.[7]

Review on FBI and DOJ actions in the 2016 election

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Main article: Inspector General report on FBI and DOJ actions in the 2016 election

Horowitz announced in January 2017 that the Inspector General's office would examine evidence related to "allegations of misconduct" regarding FBI Director James B. Comey's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices and whether Justice Department employees leaked information improperly during the run-up to the 2016 United States presidential election.[8] In June 2018, Horowitz released his report, concluding that Peter Strzok and other FBI employees "brought discredit to themselves" and to the agency. He found that Comey indulged in ad hoc decision making and did not follow FBI procedures, but did not find that he was motivated by any political bias.[9]

Review of 4 FISA Applications and the Crossfire Hurricane investigation

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Main article: Inspector General report on the Crossfire Hurricane investigation

Another investigation into the FBI and Justice Department was launched by Horowitz in March 2018. This investigation targeted the FBI and Justice Department's filing of four FISA applications and renewals to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and whether or not there was an abuse of this FISA process. A redacted version of the report of the investigation was released December 9, 2019. On November 18, 2019 Senator Lindsey Graham, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced that Horowitz would testify before the committee on December 11 regarding the investigation and provide recommendations on how judicial and investigative systems could be improved.[10]

On December 9, 2019, Horowitz released his report stating that the FBI found 17 “basic and fundamental” errors and omissions in its applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court), but did not find political bias during the investigation of Trump and Russia, nor did he find evidence that the FBI attempted to place people inside the Trump campaign or report on the Trump campaign.[11][12][13][14][15] However, in a Senate hearing, Horowitz stated he could not rule out political bias as a possible motivation.[16] The report found that the FBI had a legal "authorized investigative purpose and with sufficient factual predication" to ask for court approval to begin surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.[11]

Pandemic Response Accountability Committee

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Horowitz appointed Glenn Fine to chair the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), but Trump removed Fine in early April 2020. That month, Horowitz became acting chair of the PRAC.[17][18]

Review of the DOJ's Zero Tolerance Policy

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Main article: Inspector General report on the Zero Tolerance Policy

In January 2021, the Inspector General for the Department of Justice concluded an investigation into the "zero tolerance" policy, finding that: department leaders underestimated the difficulty of implementing it, failed to tell local prosecutors and others that children would be separated; failed to understand that separations would last longer than a few hours; and failed to halt the policy after that was discovered.[19] The findings led Rod Rosenstein, who had been Trump's Attorney General at the time the policy was enforced, to admit that family separations "should never have been implemented".[20] According to an NBC News report on the investigation, "The report could provide a road map for the incoming Biden administration to investigate those responsible for a policy President-elect Joe Biden has called criminal."[21]

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In January 2021, Horowitz announced an investigation into "whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election."[22] No public report has been released.

Trump-era leak investigations review

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In June 2021, Horowitz announced a review of the Trump administration Justice Department's use of subpoenas to obtain communication records of members of Congress and journalists during leak investigations.[23] The review examined investigations into leaked classified information that appeared in news articles in 2017 related to possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Horowitz released his findings on December 10, 2024.[24] The report found that prosecutors had secretly subpoenaed phone and email metadata for two members of Congress—Representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both California Democrats—as well as 43 congressional staffers from both parties.[25] Of the staffers, 21 worked in Democratic positions and 20 in Republican positions.[25] All four investigations closed without criminal charges.[26]

Horowitz found "no evidence of retaliatory or political motivation by the career prosecutors" but concluded that subpoenaing congressional records "risks chilling Congress's ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch."[24] The report found the Justice Department violated its own policies by failing to convene its News Media Review Committee and, in one investigation, failing to obtain required approval from the Director of National Intelligence.[26] Former Attorney General William Barr, who had personally approved the news media subpoenas in 2020, declined to be interviewed for the investigation.[25]

Review of FBI handling of Larry Nassar allegations

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In July 2021, Horowitz released a report finding that senior officials in the FBI Indianapolis Field Office "failed to respond to allegations of sexual abuse" by former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar "with the urgency that the allegations required."[27] The report found that approximately 70 athletes were sexually abused by Nassar between July 2015, when the FBI first received allegations, and September 2016, when he was arrested following a separate investigation.[28]

The report also found that Indianapolis Field Office officials made false statements to investigators when the matter came under scrutiny.[27] Horowitz made criminal referrals for two FBI officials, which the Department of Justice declined to prosecute.[29] Following the report, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray fired one of the agents involved.[28] In April 2024, the Department of Justice reached a $138.7 million settlement with 139 of Nassar's victims over the FBI's failures.[30]

Review of the FBI Richmond Catholic memo

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Main article: FBI Richmond Catholic Memo Investigation

In April 2024, Horowitz released a review of an internal FBI memo that identified "radical traditionalist Catholics" as potential domestic violent extremists. The review found "no malicious intent" behind the memo but documented procedural failures, including that the memo's authors knew their sources—including the Southern Poverty Law Center—had political bias but provided no caveats about credibility in the final document.[31][32]

Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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In June 2025, Horowitz was appointed by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to serve as Inspector General of the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, effective June 30, 2025.[33] Under federal law, the Federal Reserve chairman appoints the agency's inspector general without presidential input or Senate confirmation.[34] Horowitz succeeded Mark Bialek, who retired in April 2025 after nearly 14 years as inspector general.[33] His deputy at the Department of Justice, William Blier, became acting inspector general upon Horowitz's departure.[34]

Personal life

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In 2000, he married Alexandra Leigh Kauffman in Leesburg, Virginia.[3] Kauffman is a former field producer for CNN covering economics and personal finance.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Confirmation hearings on federal appointments ... PT.5. - Full View. S. HRG.;112-72. 2011. ISBN 9780160897856 – via Hathi Trust Digital Library.
  2. ^ Hubbell, Martindale (April 2003). Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, U.S. Government Lawyers, Law Schools (Volume 4 - 2003). Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 9781561605514.
  3. ^ a b c d e "WEDDINGS; Alexandra Kauffman, Michael Horowitz". The New York Times. June 18, 2000. The bridegroom, 37, is the chief of staff to James K. Robinson, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division in Washington.
  4. ^ a b "Meet the Inspector General". U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  5. ^ About the DOJ OIG, About The Office
  6. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Karni, Annie (January 24, 2025). "Trump Fires 17 Inspectors General in Late-Night Purge". The New York Times.
  7. ^ a b c d Horwitz, Sari; Grimaldi, James V. (September 19, 2012). "Inspector general critical of Justice Dept., ATF in 'Fast and Furious' operation". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  8. ^ Zapotosky, Matt; Horwitz, Sari (January 12, 2017). "Justice Department inspector general to investigate pre-election actions by department and FBI". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ Prokop, Andrew (June 14, 2018). "The long-awaited inspector general report on the FBI, Comey, Clinton, and 2016, explained". Vox Media. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  10. ^ Chaitin, Daniel (November 18, 2019). "Lindsey Graham sets date for FISA abuse hearing with DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz". Washington Examiner. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Lynch, Sarah N.; Sullivan, Andy; Hosenball, Mark (December 9, 2019). "Mistakes, but no political bias in FBI probe of Trump campaign: watchdog". Reuters. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  12. ^ "Read the full text: Justice Department watchdog report into origins of Russia probe". NBC News. December 9, 2019.
  13. ^ Barrett, Devlin; Zapotosky, Matt; Demirjian, Karoun; Nakashima, Ellen. "FBI was justified in opening Trump campaign probe, but case plagued by 'serious failures,' inspector general finds". The Washington Post.
  14. ^ Breuninger, Kevin (December 9, 2019). "Justice Department watchdog finds Trump-Russia probe was not tainted by political bias". CNBC.
  15. ^ https://www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ "Watchdog tells Senate of deep concerns over FBI errors in Russia probe". NBC News. December 11, 2019.
  17. ^ Rotenberg, Jeffrey D.; Hans, Richard F. (May 1, 2020). "Pandemic Response Accountability Committee". DLA Piper. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  18. ^ "PRAC Members | Pandemic Response Accountability Committee". pandemic.oversight.gov. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  19. ^ "Watchdog: DOJ bungled 'zero tolerance' immigration policy". AP NEWS. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021. The report from the inspector general for the Justice Department found that leadership failed to prepare to implement the policy or manage the fallout, which resulted in more than 3,000 family separations during "zero tolerance" and caused lasting emotional damage to children who were taken from their parents at the border. ... According to the report, department leaders underestimated how difficult it would be to carry out the policy in the field and did not inform local prosecutors and others that children would be separated. They also failed to understand that children would be separated longer than a few hours, and when that was discovered, they pressed on.
  20. ^ Holpuch, Amanda; Kirchgaessner, Stephanie (January 14, 2021). "Trump official admits family separation policy 'should never have been implemented'". the Guardian. Retrieved January 15, 2021. Rod Rosenstein publicly denounces 'zero-tolerance' policy for first time, following report showing US didn't effectively coordinate care for children
  21. ^ "Justice officials respond to report on family separation by blaming Trump, expressing regret". NBC News. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  22. ^ "DOJ inspector general investigating whether officials tried to overturn election results". CBS News. January 25, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  23. ^ "Justice Department IG To Review Trump-Era Probe Of Schiff, Swalwell". NPR. June 11, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
  24. ^ a b "Trump-era Justice Department subpoenaed congressional staffers, watchdog finds". NPR. December 10, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
  25. ^ a b c "Trump's DOJ secretly obtained phone and text message logs of 43 congressional staffers and 2 members of Congress". NBC News. December 10, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
  26. ^ a b "Feds collected records of dozens of congressional staff, multiple reporters in Trump-era leak probes, watchdog reveals". CBS News. December 10, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
  27. ^ a b "DOJ OIG Releases Report of Investigation and Review of the FBI's Handling of Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Former USA Gymnastics Physician Lawrence Gerard Nassar". U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. July 14, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  28. ^ a b "FBI director details "totally unacceptable" failures in Larry Nassar case". CBS News. September 15, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  29. ^ "Sens. Moran, Blumenthal Statement on DOJ IG Report on FBI Mishandling of Larry Nassar Case". Office of U.S. Senator Jerry Moran. July 14, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  30. ^ "Larry Nassar's victims reach $138.7 million settlement over botched FBI probe". NBC News. April 23, 2024. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  31. ^ "No Bias Found in F.B.I. Report on Catholic Extremists". The New York Times. April 18, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  32. ^ "Biden DOJ report: 'No malicious intent' behind leaked FBI memo targeting traditional Catholics". Catholic News Agency. April 19, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  33. ^ a b "Michael E. Horowitz appointed Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau". Federal Reserve Board. June 6, 2025. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  34. ^ a b Savage, Charlie (June 6, 2025). "Justice Dept.'s Inspector General to Move to the Federal Reserve". The New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
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Media related to Michael E. Horowitz at Wikimedia Commons

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